This invention relates to terminals which include means for providing electrical connections to wires entering from the outside of the terminal housing.
Outside plant telecommunications apparatus usually require one or more wires to be brought into a housing and electrically connected to connector blocks or binding posts included in the housing. Since the apparatus is often subject to harsh environments, a good seal is generally required around the area of entry of the wires. In most existing apparatus, the seal is provided by rubber grommets positioned within holes in the sides of the housing. These grommets usually do not provide an ideal seal. Further, the grommets can pop out of the holes during installation of the wires. Also, since the fit between the grommet inner diameter and the wire is not always a close one, the wires have limited strain relief.
A further problem with existing terminals is that, generally, the wires have to be installed by threading them through the inner diameter of the grommets prior to attachment of the wires to the connector blocks or binding posts. This requirement makes installation of the wires fairly slow and tedious.